Stroll Among the New Street Sculptures on the Fan Walk

Soccer fans walking near the Prestwich Memorial area of the Fan Walk will be able to touch, explore and photograph themselves with unusual new street sculptures that have been installed for the soccer festival.Six Cape Town artists were given the opportunity to interpret the theme of “A trophy for Cape Town as the best city in the world”. They did so in very diverse and personal ways.

The large-scale sculptures project was commissioned by the City of Cape Town and facilitated by the Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI), who put out a call for interest to artists, designers and craft producers from its database and that of the Visual Arts Network of South Africa. Six ideas were selected from over a dozen applicants, with the creatives working long hours to complete their designs on time.

The artists and their works are:

Etienne de Kock: Dancing in a melting pot

The vibrancy of Cape Town is represented by three dancing figures framed in a structure, suggesting a three- legged, traditional cooking pot. Set atop a tall pole, the dancers are activated by a rope hanging down from the striker. The sculptor aims to provide “a fun-filled spectacle which inner children of all ages will enjoy.”

Willard Musarurwa: Wired

A fantastical green table and chairs have been formed from twisted wire, which flows down into tangled roots and up into myriad branches. The roots represent how the people of Cape Town come from different directions, but “if we join together we can make something beautiful and amazing.”

Heath Nash: It’s beautiful here

This beautiful rainbow arch of powder-coated, laser-cut steel, about two and a half metres high, offers a wonderful photo opportunity for passers- by.

Kommetjie Environmental Action Group: Full-cycle tree

A collective of artists from the South Peninsula have reused and recycled wood, plastic and metal waste to construct a festive tree. The whole structure is decorated with mirrors, plastic mosaic and decorative beading. This plastic tree represents a full circle – as plastic is a by-product of coal, and coal originates from fossilized trees.

Felix Holm: Wind Tree

This tree, bent by the Cape of Storms, trials and tribulations, echoes the typical odd-angled coastal trees that have been sculpted by the wind. This structure bears multinational fruit, from hundreds of years of being a cosmopolitan city, plus the fruit of the soccer festival. The top pivots with the prevailing wind.

Conrad Hicks: Implements

This group sculpture of solid steel can be interpreted as people contributing to their environment and history.

Along with all the other soccer-related themes – from film festivals to photographic exhibitions and individual displays of patriotism, these artworks are another great contribution to the exhuberant spirit of soccer which prevails in the city at present. Pay them a visit!